Door control



Jan. 27, 1931. J. B. HAGAN noon CONTROL Filed March 18, 1929 Jul "enterv JasEPH @WQ;

Patented Jan. 27,1931

j PATENTfQiFF i-GEQ fJosErR-B; HAGAN; or-innnxnrnxcnrrnonarminoonlcon'raon Application fiI'edMarch'B, 1929.; Seria1;No.j348, 15.,i.j

. g The invention relatesto-nieans forcontrol-- the openingand- *closing'of'doors, and

operation er garage-doors more particiilarly to "the coiitrol'lingoi '5"obj ect of the inventionyis to provide means it; so positioningandicontrolling the movement of the ordinaryitorsmrr'sprmg,

used forclosing doors that such a spring'maybe ut1hzed,w1thoutstructural modifications,-

for urging doors from closedto'open position. Another object of theinvention s to pro-' videmeans of the character described whereby asimple line and pulley arrangement may be utilized toenable a driver 'ofan-au'tomoa V bile, while seated therein, to:b othopen'and closethe;doors. from' a=point outside the ga r i Still another object tofgtheinventionis to provide a device of the character described which s ofsimple and nexpenslve constructlon and whlch'in'ay bereadily and easilyin- Y stalled.

v The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, someof which, With "2725 the foregoing, will be set forth in the follow ingdescription of the preferred form of the invention which is illustratedin the drawings accompanying and forming part of the specificatlon, Itis to be understood, however, that '39 Variations in the showing made bythe said 4 Figure dis a fragmentary View of the operating mechanism,showlng the means for locking same.

As illustratedin'the drawings, the means of my invention areincorporated with a pair 7 of doors 5 and 6 of the garage 7, parts ofthe front 'andside Walls 8 v being indicated. i

and 9, respectively;

In-the operationof my device, the doors are arranged to be'urged to anopen posit-ion and in the preferred embodiment o f the in;

vention Iam enabled touse torthispurpose, by reason of anovel mountingthereof, tor sion:;s'pring"12 of thetype that is in common useion movingdoors to a :closed position.

Secured on the inside of thefront Wall- 8,

and having a po-rtion thereof overlapping the side edge 13of the opening14 0f thega rage is'f-a'biock 16 to Which is secured one. of

the attaching'elenients '17 which carries one end ofthe spring, theelement "17 ibeing pref erably, as here indicated;p'ositioned'ron' theSideedge lffOf the blocklying within fthe area ofthe opening. Theotherendot 'the spring is carried byan attaching element 18' which is secured'to the door adjacentthe innerqedge: l9 thereo It will ibe'understood" yfrom the foregoing that "bothfz ends 7 of the: spring {are positionedto:lie within the plane;

ofth'e openingsl :Since thespring, previously.explained; isarranged tourge the door 'to iopen position,fit will be c'lear'that, when :the dooris irr such position; the spring *wil l be disposed in- 'ane'xtendedrelation, as indicated in Figure However, whenithe dOOTz'lS moved toclosed, position, the ends .ot; the: spring :being anchbredi totheelem'ent's against rotation',"the

coilswill be twistedtorsionally whereby suf fi'cie'nt' potentialenergymayibe stored up :in the spring-- to urge the return of the doorto 2, it w ill be seenthat the block'fexte'ndsi V61" ticallyupWardt-o'apoint approximately half Wayup thelengtlrofthespring, thus serving. toretain the spring :in? position whereby the open position. As wi'll beclearzt'rom Figure twist imparted thereto," during theclosing movementof the door; willibeexpendedzin" rotating the coilsrather than'in;uselessly dis} tendingthe spring. It'will also'be: seen that sinceth'e'blo'ck retainsthe spring in;the:plane;

of the opening there will be no'rdan'ger'or" the spring entering 1 thecraclr betweerr. the Ledge of "the door and: wall and thus: interferingwith the proper closinga otthe door; In pra s ticel' havefound'thatproper'positioningrand i operation of thespring may behad by positioningthe block so that the edge will lie flush with the inner face of thedoor when the latter is in open position. Variation in the force of thespring may be effected in the usual manner by turning the rotatable stem21 of the attaching element 18. p

In applying the springs to the doors it will be obvious that therelative positioning of the attaching elements on the door and block.Will be reversed on one of the double doors,

that is while the elements 17 and 18 are respectlvely positioned on theblock and door,

with respect to door 5,.on applying the spring to the opposite door6-tlie elements 17 and 18 w ll bfeplaced on the door and blockrespectively.

- Means are provided for controlling the openingand closing of thedoors, as previously stated, from a point outside the garage,

Secured to the doors adjacent their upper outer edges, such as by meansof screw-eyes 22 and 23, are flexible lines 2st and 25 respec tively,which are secured to a line 27 which passes around a pulley 28 andextends through a conduit 29. The conduit extends to -a point outsidethe garage so that the portion of the line 27 which extendsfrom theconduit may be grasped by the vdriver of an automobile while seatedWithin the car,to open or close the doors. As will be clear from Figure*1,

the line 27 passesarounda pulley 31 supported at the end ofthe-conduit,- while the free end of the line is provided with a suitableweight 82, the latter being of such heft as to counteract the door,opening force of the springs 12. Preferably, the lines 24: and V 25 passthrough a double pulley 33 fixed to a suitable member such as the beam34cat the top of the opening 14 of the garage.

In the operation of the device, it will be evident that when theweighted end of the line 27 is raised so as to relieve it of the weight,the doors will,under the action of the springs,

proceed to move into open position and, since 7 the weight 32 is notsuificientto completely counteract the force of the springs, the doorswill stay in opened position. On the other hand, to close the doors theoperator merely pulls on the weighted end of the line so that the doorswill be forced against the action of the spring into closed position.Prefer ably, the portion of the line 27 withinthe conduit, in thatsection of the latter. lying outside of the garage, is formed of metallink I chain, and in order to lock the doors against 'opening,-a padlock36, or the like,may be placed about one of the links of the chain so asto prevent the unauthorized inward movement of the line in the conduitto efliect the opening of the doors.

' While I have here shown the weight 32 disposed outside the garage, itwill be evident that, ifdesired, the weight may behung from a portion ofthe line 27 inside the garage.

by' said'door may be closed from a point outside said wall, a weightconnected to said line and having a heft overcoming the door openingurge of said spring means.

2. In combination with a garage door of the two door type, springs oneach of said doors arranged to urge said doors from closed to openposition, line portions on the inside of the garageattached tosaiddoors, a line connected to said portions for opening the doors from apoint outside the garage, means providing a passageway from inside tooutside of said garage for the slidable reception of said line, pulleysat the inner and outer ends of said last means for the passage of saidline thereover, a weight on the line for holding the doors closedagainst the urge of the springs, and means for locking theline inextended position so that said line may not be manipulated to open thedoors. 7 g I In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my-hand atOakland, California, this 4th day of March, 1929. 1 e JOSEPH B. HAGAN.

